Picture This

Sometimes history is embedded right in stone. Such is certainly the case with the 38 ½ foot granite obelisk miraculously placed to mark the 100^th anniversary of the Prophet Joseph’s birth, December 23, 1905. That incredible story was documented on Meridian a number of years ago HERE. Another very small miracle occurred 100 years later that was never documented.

When you have a family the size we do (eleven children) the worst time for both parents to leave on a business trip would be right around Christmas. But, what do you do when the Church was planning an official celebration and broadcast from Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont on December 23, 2005 to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of the Prophet Joseph’s birth and you have Meridian Magazine? We just had to be there.

President Gordon B. Hinckley and Elder M. Russell Ballard came to mark the event. Some of you may remember this. It was indelibly marked by the characteristic Vermont, bitter cold. An unexpected storm was moving into the area, so President Hinckley made the decision to pre-record the broadcast one-day early so that he and his entourage would all be able to make it home safely for Christmas.

We did not have that kind of luxury as we had purchased round-trip tickets that would take us back to our Virginia home on Christmas Eve morning. This gave us a rather “free” day to stay on in Vermont and so we decided to go to Barre (pronounced berry), Vermont to see the world-renowned Rock of Ages granite quarry. We had never been there and this was where the monument came from for the Joseph Smith Memorial a century before.

Here it was, December 23, 2005, exactly 200 years after the Prophet’s birth, and we got to be at this incredible quarry. We went right to the quarry office to talk to the mine supervisor or anyone who was there to ask if it were still known where the granite shaft came from for the Joseph Smith Memorial. We explained who we were and that this was the very 200^th year anniversary of the Prophet Joseph’s birth. We told him about the commemoration down in Sharon and that we had a few extra hours.

All we had was access to an old photograph of the quarry workers taken near where the marvelous shaft and pedestal rocks were quarried. We asked if, by chance, he knew the part of the quarry where the shaft was taken out. He knew right where it was! We were so excited.

Even though it was bitter cold, we didn’t care, we knew we were standing in a special place on a very historic day. This kind manager gave us very specific directions to the part of the quarry we wanted to see and gave us some safety instructions and where we could get a good view of it.

Even though the area was mostly flooded and the rocks where covered with snow and ice, we were thrilled to get a view of this historic location and to review in our minds the miracles that it took to get that monument from here those 46 difficult miles to the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph one-hundred years earlier.

After we took a number of pictures, we went back over to the quarry office to thank our new friend for his kindness in letting us go to the old part of the quarry and see this site on THIS special day. He said it was not a problem at all and he was happy that we were able to come. Then he paused and he said, “Could you wait here for just a moment? I have something I feel belongs to you.” We had no idea what that could possibly be, but of course we would wait!

He came out holding a replica of the Joseph Smith Monument, with the words engraved on it, “Sacred to the Memory of Joseph Smith the Prophet, Born here 23^rd December 1805.” It was about a foot high and in perfect condition. “We made a few of these taken from the same part of the quarry where the original shaft came from before that part was closed. This is the last one. I feel you should have it.”

Now you can picture this.